A Quick Q&A About The Spinward Fringe Series

Recently a thread about the First Light Chronicles and Spinward Fringe books has sprung to life on the Mobileread forums. You can find that here. The posters there seem to have become quite aware that I read their posts and am ready to answer within a day or two of them posting practically any question. I'm enjoying the public back and forth, and invite anyone who frequents my blog to pay it a visit.

So far the thread has been spoiler free, so if you want to start a topic where the plot lines of the books are discussed, then I ask that you start a new one. I'll be happy to discuss the plot, characters or technology in a different discussion thread for people who have already read the books. I won't reveal future plans or what's coming up in the story, however. (If you do start a new topic concerning my work, please send me a message telling me where to find it. Mobile read is a big bulletin board).

Here are a couple questions that have come up in the existing thread:

I didn't know you updated the MOBI versions of First Light and such. When did the updates go through and what changed?

The updates went live a few weeks ago. Here's the most recent post regarding that.

There were a few grammar corrections (a few of which were submitted by readers who were in the book industry, thank you if you're reading this!), I also wrote in some extra character development and re-wrote some sections so they were more believable and easier to read.

That sounds like a lot, but when you consider the plot didn't change, and I was told time and time again not to completely rewrite Freeground, so I didn't, the changes aren't ground shattering.

The next book to get this treatment is Resurrection, which, thankfully, doesn't need nearly as much work.

Judging from the feedback I've been getting on the re-release of the First Light Chronicles Ombibus, I'll be re-releasing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 1: Resurrection on Amazon for $0.99 for the first month or two, so people who do want the updated version on their Kindle won't have to pay the full price again. This is in reaction to Kindle not being willing to offer their users the most up to date versions of a book. Their customer service people have spoken.

All these updates will also happen on Mobipocket and Smashwords, where people who already own them will be able to get the updated versions for free.

When is Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments coming out?

Right now I have two thirds of a manuscript that's been written two and a half times. Thankfully, I'm not doing another draft unless my editor tells me I've bungled the book, so I'm working on the ending right now. It's looking like this book will be out in the next couple of months if it gets my editor's approval.

Things do tend to move more slowly these days, however, as I take a lot more time with editing and have gotten a couple more people involved. With an audience that has grown to about 500 for the Spinward Fringe series, I've become pretty quality conscious. The development time for each book after it's written is still only weeks, however, as compared to big publishing houses, who normally take months, so we have that going for us!

In a post later this week I'll be answering questions I've received over the years about vacsuits. It seems that people have no problem believing in worm holes and mass modifying particles, but thin protective clothing is a little boggling. It makes sense when you think about it, science fiction is filled with examples of objects that move faster than the speed of light, but you don't hear about clothing that does more than cover you from neck to toe.

RL

Do you have any questions about the Spinward Fringe series?

Spinward Fringe Fragments Release Delayed

The big announcement today is that, purely for creative reasons, Spinward Fringe Fragments (Broadcast 6), will be late. In its current inception I don't believe I'm giving you enough story in one book to call it finished, so I'm moving ahead and including the majority of what I had planned for Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7.

I know you're waiting, this isn't the news most of you want to hear, but I have to take the release date off the table. The good news is that, even with the expansion of the novel, I'm still more than half finished. To be honest, I'm disappointed as well, I really wanted Spinward Fringe Fragments out before March, but I just don't like the idea of releasing what I have, since it reads short regardless of its actual physical length. Right now it's longer than Spinward Fringe Fracture, but there are too many incomplete journeys, and three cliff hangers that make the ending seem just lazy, even though it is the middle of a trilogy.

The good news is that the book is getting better, and it had a strong foundation to start with so I'm pretty pleased with it so far. With a few extra loose ends tied up and a greater distance for characters to travel, I believe this will be more than just the middle chapter in a trilogy, it'll be one of the books I compare future work to when it's time to ask myself; "is my work getting better?"

Again, I apologize for the extended wait, but at this point I'd rather do something properly and be late with it than struggle and get an unsatisfactory bit of fiction into people's hands.

RL

Note to self: Work on estimating completion dates more accurately...

Spinward Fringe: Fragments - Progress

A lot of work has gone into this book. Where Spinward Fringe Fracture delivered what I consider a number of familiar experiences wrapped up in a new style and set of situations, Fragments steps outside of the box. Way outside.

The plot lines that left off in Frontline get picked up again, I introduce an entirely new environment, and a brand new side of the story is told. That's about as specific as I can get without spoiling all the surprises.

How close am I to finishing? I'm writing the last five chapters of the final draft, so I'll admit, I'm behind, but not by much. Unless there's a major hiccup, I should make the deadline of February 28 and if I don't, it'll still be close.

The Sons of Brightwill is still going ahead, but at this point other people are reviewing things, so that frees me up to work on Fragments until it's finished. Everything in this book continues roughly in the direction set in the previous volumes - towards a conclusive end to most of the existing plot lines.

I'm excited to present this work to you, especially after the surprisingly long road it's taken through extra research (books, white papers, queries sent to a few scientists - Thanks Gavin! - and endless documentaries), and an extra draft. It seems the more risks I take with a work the more I enjoy it, and soon, very soon, I'll find out if the stylistic and plot risks I've taken were worth it. My editor can't wait to see it.

Thank you for your support and patience. Time for me to get back to work!

RL

Welcome to 2010

I'm not going to talk much about 2009. For me it was a year of getting used to writing full time, to the pressures of marketing, a little creative experimentation (thank you Shawn, for Sudbury NaNoWriMo and to everyone from Underground Writers), and a year where I took a very serious look at what I'd done, started making it better, and decided what would be happening in 2010.

It was a busy year. At times I felt like an archivist, maintaining and improving the books already out there while working to create new content. I only released two books in 2009, but I'm proud of each of them for different reasons.

Now, on to 2010. The final versions of the First Light Chronicles will appear very early on since we're wrapping work up on that right now. Final revisions of Spinward Fringe Resurrection, Awakening, Triton, and Frontline will follow. Anyone who owns the books right now will be able to update their versions for free. That's what's happening in the distant background, it isn't taking up much of my time at all.

What will take up the bulk of my time is writing new material. The marketing is starting to take care of itself, with the good word spreading thanks to my excellent readers and communication growing between them and myself I can feel my work reaching people. New work is the focus this year, and I can't express my excitement.

In 2008 I pledged to write every day of the year and managed to only miss sixteen. I'm making the same pledge for 2010 and know exactly where my efforts will be focused. The books I will complete in 2010 include three more Spinward Fringe novels (one is almost finished), and two fantasy novels. 2010 is about building, it's about reaching out with good, refined work and letting the people who enjoy being part of the process help me to deliver works of enduring quality.

This is going to be a fantastic year, and I have my readers to thank for putting me in a position to have a great start.

I hope everyone had a good year in 2009, and I wish you all a fantastic time in 2010!

Here we go.

RL

Spinward Fringe Fragments: Release Date, Cover & Another Announcement

Spinward Fringe Fragments, Broadcast 6 will be available on February 28.

I know people expected this to come out sooner, but the days of releasing unpolished work are coming to an end, and that means involving more people in the proof reading and editing process. Whenever you include more people and refine something to a greater degree, you add time to the process. It will be worth it.

That being said, let me talk about this book a little.

As it is the book is daring, looks at a lot of characters and situations from a completely new perspective and delivers on the promise I made to myself; to make something new that introduces a fresh, interesting, exciting setting.

Some of your favourite characters are dropped into an unfamiliar, dangerous situation. The epic layer of the big picture story comes back into play in this book as we ramp up for the end of some of the oldest plot lines in the series. This book has been challenging to write, exciting to experience, and is already near the end of its second draft.

Sadly, material that was earmarked for the Spinward Fringe Strange Horizons and Close Encounters anthology has been pulled back into this book, and I'm spending too much time working on this and the last part of the Rogue Element Trilogy to write more material for the anthology. It'll have to wait until these books are finished.

Writing a trilogy is different. This isn't one book split up into three parts, these are three books that have different feels, very different events, and leave a different impression on the reader. Knowing that the current plot cycles are coming to an end in the third part of the Rogue Element Trilogy adds a level of immediacy and completeness to the set.

That's right, all those plot lines you've been following since The First Light Chronicles Omnibus*, are coming to an end.

Will there be more Spinward Fringe books? Yes. There are plenty of adventures left for many of the characters, but not all.

Keep that in mind when I say that at the end of the Rogue Element Trilogy there will be no plot questions left regarding any surviving main characters.

As you can tell from the above cover, and hopefully from Spinward Fringe Fracture, I'm working with some great people to bring the books up to the quality one would expect from big publishing houses. As many readers know, this has been happening in stages, and I'm proud of how far things have come since early 2008.

Thank you and happy holidays to new readers and long supporters! I appreciate all of you picking up the books, reviewing, reading and talking about what I do. If it weren't for your support I wouldn't be doing this full time.

Again, have a safe and happy holiday season!

RL

*The First Light Chronicles Omnibus is to be re-released as the Spinward Fringe Origins Trilogy when the final revision is complete in early 2010.

Spinward Fringe: Who Dies?

It's well known to some readers that I listen to the people who enjoy my particular brand of fiction. They're responsible for bringing one of the most treasured characters back from the dead, for getting more than one book into print, and for a decision I made right at the end of Spinward Fringe Frontline that changed the series forever.

I like hearing what you have to say, I love every email you take the time to send, and I've found your criticism useful. You trust me to entertain you every time you pay hard earned money for a new Spinward Fringe book and I can't thank you enough.

Now I'm writing three books one after the other, all Spinward Fringe. The first two will continue and conclude the Rogue Element Trilogy. The third, which is named and planned, will once again break the mold that's forming around Spinward Fringe. This is going to be fun.

For now, I have a job for you, dear reader. Some time in the upcoming books a character will die. You decide who by voting on the list above. The only condition I have is that you've read all the books first. The polls will be open for 30 days and I'll only take this poll seriously after 30 people have made their grim preference known.

RL

[Oh, and the character who dies will NOT be coming back]